Hero image: inside the original Coffee Prince café in Hongdae, 2012. Photo: Michaela den / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).
The hottest style in Korea this fall doesn’t come from an idol or a runway. It comes from a 2007 drama, and not even from its lead. Women in their 20s and 30s are copying Han Yoo-joo, the elegant ex-girlfriend in Coffee Prince, and they have a name for it: 한유주 코어 (Han Yoo-joo koeo), Han Yoo-joo core.
Who is Han Yoo-joo?
In MBC’s Coffee Prince (커피프린스 1호점, 2007), Gong Yoo and Yoon Eun-hye were the main couple. Han Yoo-joo, played by Chae Jung-an, was the second lead: an artist who comes back from abroad and walks around in trench coats, soft knits and silk scarves like she’s never had a bad day.
Gen Z wasn’t old enough to watch it the first time. They’re watching it now, mostly through clips. MBC’s classic-drama YouTube channel, 옛드 (yetdeu, “old dramas”), has about 3.75 million subscribers, and scenes from mid-2000s hits keep turning up in Shorts and on Instagram. Younger viewers noticed that the side character had the best wardrobe.
Photos: TV10 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0); World Vision Korea / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0).
She isn’t the only one. Two other 2000s characters keep coming up:
- Yoo Hee-jin in My Lovely Sam Soon (내 이름은 김삼순, 2005), played by Jung Ryeo-won. Another polished ex-girlfriend: blouses, cardigans, muted colors.
- Yoo In-na’s character in the sitcom High Kick Through the Roof (지붕 뚫고 하이킥, 2009).
Notice the pattern? Korean social media already had 전여친 코어 (jeonyeochin koeo, “ex-girlfriend core”) and 첫사랑 코어 (cheotsarang koeo, “first-love core”). The heroines of these dramas were messy and loud. The women they lost to were calm and well dressed, and that’s who people want to look like now.
The “grown woman look”
The bigger trend has a plainer name: 어른 여자 (eoreun yeoja), “grown woman.” According to Asia Economy, Google searches for the phrase in Korea jumped more than 5,000%. It’s the opposite of the loud, youthful Y2K look that ran Korean fashion for the last few years.
If someone tells you their 추구미 (chugumi), the style they’re going for, is 어른 여자, this is what they mean:
- Pieces: a 트렌치코트 (teurenchi koteu), trench coat, V-neck knits, cardigans, blazers, midi and H-line skirts, capri pants, suede or leather jackets, a big tote
- Accessory: a silk 스카프 (seukapeu), scarf, tied at the neck or on the bag
- Fabrics: cashmere, wool, camel hair, silk
- Colors: brown, camel and cream, with burgundy, red or plum as the accent
- Not allowed: big logos and anything that looks like it’s trying hard. The Korean phrase is 힘을 뺀 (himeul ppaen), “with the effort taken out”
Chae Jung-an has weighed in herself. Her tip for the look: add gold accessories.
The numbers
Korean shopping apps saw this coming in their sales data.
- 29CM (September, year on year): scarves +457%, trench coats +354%, midi skirts +140%, leather jackets +63%
- Zigzag (September, year on year): capri pants +302%, layered camisoles +90%, scarves +80%
- W Concept: fall clothing orders up more than 30% in a single week of late August. Hankook Ilbo also reported knitwear up 85%, mid-heel shoes up 40%, tote bags up 35% and outerwear up 20%
- LeMouton, a Korean shoe brand: Mary Jane sales hit ₩11 billion (about $7.8 million) by August, up 110% from a year earlier
Shopping the look in Seoul
- Apps first. 29CM, W Concept and Zigzag are where Korean shoppers are buying this. Search 트렌치코트, 미디스커트 (midi seukeoteu) or just 어른 여자 코디 (eoreun yeoja kodi, grown-woman outfit) to see how Koreans are styling it.
- In person. 29CM and Musinsa run offline stores in Seongsu, and department stores like Shinsegae and The Hyundai Seoul carry the domestic brands. October is trench coat weather in Seoul, so stock is at its peak right now. See our autumn in Korea guide for what the weather actually feels like.
- Tax refunds. Spend ₩15,000 or more in a participating store and you can claim the VAT back. Our tax-free shopping guide explains how.
- Don’t go looking for the café. The original Coffee Prince café in Hongdae was a pilgrimage spot for years, but it has since closed, and Korean media reported in 2025 that the building had been sitting empty behind a rusted gate for about five years.
Watch before you shop
Coffee Prince and My Lovely Sam Soon are both on MBC’s 옛드 YouTube channel in clips, and full episodes stream on Korean services. Watch a few Han Yoo-joo scenes and you’ll get the trend faster than any lookbook can explain it.
Sources: The Korea Times / Hankook Ilbo, Asia Economy, Handmaker, Daum on the Coffee Prince café.